1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for changing shift gears and engaging and disengaging a clutch using an actuator.
2. Description of Related Art
There have conventionally been vehicles that disengage a clutch and change shift gears by actuating an actuator according to a shift-up or a shift-down operation by a rider. In general, gear change control devices mounted on such vehicles start gradually engaging the clutch after the shift gears have completely been moved (changed).
The driver may occasionally make successive shift-up or shift-down operations in a short time while the vehicle is running. In order to respond to such quick gear change operations by the rider, the gear change control device disclosed in JP-B-3132358 allows the reception of a next gear change command even before the start of engagement of the clutch if the shift gears have completely been moved. When a next gear change command is inputted before the start of engagement of the clutch, this gear change control device does not engage the clutch but starts moving the shift gears according to the next gear change command while keeping the clutch disengaged. This gear change control device engages the clutch after the completion of the movement. This allows the rider to make quicker gear change operations than in the case where the reception of a next gear change command is started after the completion of engagement of the clutch.
However, the riding comfort of a vehicle provided with the gear change control device of JP-B-3132358 may be poor at gear changes. Specifically, when a next gear change command is inputted before the start of engagement of the clutch, the gear change control device of JP-B-3132358 changes the shift gears according to the next gear change command while keeping the clutch disengaged. Therefore, the shift gear corresponding to the gear change command inputted later is set without the rider sensing deceleration and acceleration at the shift gear corresponding to the gear change command inputted earlier at all. Therefore, deceleration and acceleration exceeding the expectation of the rider may occur when the shift gears are completely changed and the clutch is engaged, leading to poor riding comfort.